From HealthNewsDigest.com

Eye Care
Latest Research Asks Patients About Life After LASIK
By
Dec 21, 2016 - 4:53:15 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - With more than 20 years of technological advancement, 16 million procedures and a higher than 95 percent patient satisfaction rate, finding room for improvement in LASIK vision correction is like hunting for a needle in a haystack. But recent news out of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers a new frontier in LASIK research, patient-reported data, with the potential to uncover new approaches to patient counseling, screening and research. Importantly, the researchers confirmed that the procedure is a safe and effective option for vision correction.

Published in JAMA Ophthalmology, “Satisfaction of Patients in the Patient-Reported Outcomes with LASIK (PROWL) Studies” gave LASIK patient participants a newly developed questionnaire before and after their LASIK surgery to see if more and more accurate information about patient’s vision, LASIK surgery experience and results could be obtained.

“What PROWL delivers is a new systematic way of gathering the patient’s subjective perceptions, which may have valuable implications to improving the delivery of vision correction care,” said Kerry Solomon, M.D., president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. “The potential to expand our clinical understanding of LASIK with patient-reported data is very exciting. We anticipate the ongoing use of the questionnaire will provide important insights that can improve what is already a fantastic vision correction option.”

Not surprisingly, patient satisfaction with LASIK remains extraordinarily high, with up to 98 percent of study participants reporting being satisfied with the procedure. The study also found approximately 40 percent of a small subset of participants—those who reported having no symptoms prior to LASIK (25 percent of all study participants)--reported new visual symptoms including dry eye, glare, halos, starbursts or ghosting following LASIK. However, most participants saw a decrease in symptoms and fewer than 1 percent of participants reported symptoms interfered with their daily activities.

The latest LASIK study mirrors the findings of other recently published clinical work. A recent review of more than 4,400 LASIK clinical studies conducted between 2008 and 2015 found patients are experiencing better visual outcomes than ever before. This vast data pool also showed the procedure has improved over time and, with the advent of modern technology and techniques, is among the safest and most effective surgical procedures. The LASIK scientific literature review also reports the global patient satisfaction rate has increased to more than 98 percent. In addition, a recent three-year study showed that people who had LASIK were more satisfied with their vision than contact lens users, and that their satisfaction stayed high over time, while the satisfaction rate of contact lens users declined.

“For people weighing their vision correction options, these studies are fantastic news. These results really prove there has never been a better time to have LASIK. With the modern technology and techniques, the visual outcomes with LASIK are superb,” said Dr. Solomon. “As with any procedure, there is a healing process with LASIK that can take up to a year. Becoming an informed patient and having a frank conversation with your surgeon about what to expect during and after LASIK are essential to having a good experience and result.”

LASIK is a clinically proven safe and effective option for vision correction for those who are good candidates for the procedure. Resources for people looking into their vision correction options include the American Refractive Surgery Council (www.americanrefractivesurgerycouncil.org/blog).

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